The meeting will also discuss the developments in Ukraine, as well as the S-400, as SKAI correspondent Manolis Kostidis reported from Istanbul.
Today, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will meet with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and while the Russian president has proposed that Turkey become an energy hub, through which natural gas will be transported to Europe.
The meeting will also discuss the developments in Ukraine, as well as the S-400, as SKAI correspondent Manolis Kostidis reported from Istanbul.
During the stay in Kazakhstan, where the meeting with Putin will take place, the Turkish president had a relaxing time playing table tennis with the president of Kazakhstan, Tokayev.
Putting the brakes on the optimism created in Turkey for the F-16 sale is Bob Menendez, who in his Twitter post makes a bombshell statement about the F-16s and Erdogan: “I will never approve the F-16s, as long as Erdogan continues his aggression.”
An #NDAA amendment is only one tool at our disposal to advance US interests in the Eastern Med.
Let me be clear: as #SFRC Chairman, I will not approve any F-16 case for Turkey until Erdogan halts his campaign of aggression across the region. Full stop. https://t.co/lMkKaMatuN— Senate Foreign Relations Committee (@SFRCdems) October 12, 2022
“The amendment to the NDAA (Pentagon defense budget) is just one of the tools at our disposal to advance US interests in the Eastern Mediterranean. Let me be clear: as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I will not under any circumstances approve this F-16 case in Turkey until Erdogan stops his campaign of aggression throughout the region. Period” wrote the chairman of the Senate Committee on International Relations.
Turkish media about F16
In Haberturk it was reported that “Turkey, while in the F-35 program, is now fighting for the F-16” – “The choice of the S-400 brought this result.”
Haberturk’s news release stated: “Of course, there is a whole process here. But let’s remember how we got here. CAATSA sanctions were activated due to the S-400 purchase thus excluding Turkey from the F-35 program.
But there is also an amount that had been paid. As you know, Turkey was a co-producer. So Turkey started a new process for its aircraft.
There are needs for new fighters, for the modernization of some others and for the support of fighters that are aging. That is, a new buying and selling process has begun for the purchase of F-16s and their modernization.”
It is also reported in the Turkish media that nothing is expected to be done with the F-16s within 2022.
“The Biden administration is not ready and the climate in Congress is not favorable”
Specifically, Haberturk network correspondent in Washington Ali Cinar reported: “In the event that the technical negotiations are completed at the end of November and whether the Biden administration will be ready, officially or unofficially and depending on the climate in Congress, the announcement of the sale of F-16s in Turkey can present it to the foreign affairs committee and if the members of the committee do not object, within 15 days this sale can be completed. But that is not expected to happen this year.”.
He added: “But the Biden administration is not ready. Technical negotiations are ongoing. And if they are completed, it is not clear what climate will prevail in Congress. The war in Ukraine is critical, there are difficulties and problems in US-Turkey relations.”
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I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
